Chapter 15
Although she should have woken up cheering their luck, Amelia woke up crying. The sheets had smelt so sweet she thought, compared to the renk smell of town. They were sweeter than her grandmother’s sheets. She couldn’t afford washing powder and just used a rough blue soap. Their bed always smelt of her grandmother’s perspiration. She suddenly missed the smell of their shack that her grandmother had fought to keep clean, but was so small that odours of chicken and shoes lingered. She had a hotel bed; new rich protectors Melchior and Don Oro; she was getting a house; but she wanted the impossible: she wanted to bury her head into her grandmother’s side and be squeezed. When she had this she hadn’t really cared that she was poor; she didn’t really want anything that badly.
Peto was singing in the shower. He had been in it for nearly an hour. Prince was just. She tried to pull herself together; she didn’t want Prince to think that she was ungrateful. Eventually, Peto came out wrapped in a white monogrammed towel.
‘I am a Don! Smell me! ‘he said
‘Peto you was nearly a gone! How could you take me to that rough place in town? Look you nearly got pasted. ‘said Amelia
‘Peto you were never meant to take Amelia to town, didn’t I tell you to take her to the other fisherman’s hut? ‘said Prince
‘There was no time, the Police made everybody go. ’Peto went to the window and drew the curtain. ‘You see there are hardly people on the beach. They made everyone go to town.’
‘They’ve got no right to do that. My grandfather will change everything.’ Said Prince
‘Where is the fisherman?’ asked Amelia
‘My grandfather sent him with money to go and get my mother. I don’t know how long he will be gone.
There was a knock on the door. The children shouted, ‘come in, ‘and Melchior entered carrying a tray with croissants and peaches and grape juice.
‘Eat! ‘He told the children. They did not need to be told twice’
‘Why do you look so sad?’ Melchior asked Amelia. ‘Are you not happy that your Prince has come back for you? It was lucky for you that we did. You were in the very wrong part of town.
‘I was thinking of my grandmother. She died. I wish I could hug her again.’
‘Do you have no mother?’
‘I don’t remember. I only remember my grandmother.’
‘The bracelet boy said that her bracelet comes from our villages’ said Prince
‘Let me see’ said Melchior. Amelia showed him the mango wood bangle.
‘These carvers are very specialised each village has its own mark. You see these grapes underneath the bird? They mean you are from the Saint Prince area. There is nothing there now. Nearly all the villagers were killed by the hurricane seven years ago. They took many children to the city thinking that there was an orphanage there were the children could live. They didn’t realise there was no provision. ‘
‘I don’t know if it was even my real grandmother. She grew up on West Beach when she was a child and she gave someone money to bring me here after she died. She said I would meet a Prince.’ She said this to block out the idea of her mother and father drowning, dying in a hurricane.
‘And so you did!’ said Melchior. Amelia wondered if he knew that Prince had been picking up rubbish for a small piece of bread a day.
‘So how come Prince could not come and live at the hotel, he had to live in a hut, and didn’t have enough food?’
‘The fisherman did not know he was mine for sure, and he hardly knew me. It was a long time since I was here in West Beach. Some people are ignorant and don’t believe you have power and money if you are dark skinned. They will get to know all about me. Come get dressed we are going for a walk on the beach. Nobody can tell my people they are not allowed on the land they were born in.
Amelia got dressed wondering what to do. If the fisherman had gone, she had nobody to take to Don Oro. Melchior was a busy businessman. He would not want to take time out to be her guardian. Don Oro was going to create an orphanage in town. Maybe her house could be a home for Peto, Pinkie and Pearl too. She got dressed in her usual shorts and t-shirt that didn’t seem crisp like the hotel bed sheets.
‘Don’t be sad about your grandmother. Let her live on through your life. You are the survivor of beautiful people. The villagers of Saint Prince were the kindest nicest people in the country.’ Said Melchior picking her up and giving her a squeeze.
‘That’s true, Amelia is very kind. She always gives kids bread, ‘said Peto
‘You were lucky I drove by young man. How could you have got into a scrape like that?’
‘It was Torro; he is a type of devil man.’
‘I have many things to do, but I am not an easy character; I don’t let people pick on children. I will find that Torro and drive him out of the area.’
The children all smiled and laughed
‘So do you think my parents are dead?’ asked Amelia
‘You never know in this country. Never say never. ‘said Melchior and gave her a wink. ‘Be downstairs in five minutes’ he said and left
‘Don’t worry Amelia. I don’t have a mother either and I heard told that my mother just left me in the street because she had no money. So what am I a dog no one wanted? But I stay happy because at least she gave me life. I might end up being a footballer in the world cup. Then she will come to my door and say, ‘Peto, Peto my son, I love you so much, I have come back ‘and I would shut the door in her face. Does she know how it is to walk in the sun with blisters fetching water for people who spit at you?’
‘Hey maybe it wasn’t your mother’s fault. I still love my mother, but I went to that farm where they beat me.’
‘You have to be thankful you’re clever and remembered your grandfather and came to find him. I have to be thankful to you too Prince. Your grandfather saved my hide. Torro set me up in a fight to get injured. Thank you for being my friend Prince.’ Peto hugged Prince
‘It’s no big deal. I just hope you don’t turn me away when you are that big footballer.’
‘No way!’ said Peto and they left to go downstairs. The staircase was very grand and they all posed and joked around
‘I am Prince the owner of the joint,’ said Prince with his nose in the air
‘I am Queen Amelia don’t come near my scented skin.’
‘Do you think we will become like those posh children and we won’t play with ragged kids? ‘asked Peto
‘No way!’ shouted the other two and they all put their hands together
‘Ragged til the end!’ said Prince and they all laughed. Amelia thought silently that she was going to find Jasper, and all the other children who slept by the road, and make sure they slept in Don Oro’s orphanage in sheets as nice as the ones she slept in last night.
In the hotel lobby, Melchior was surrounded by people all shaking his hand, expensive looking businessmen in suits
‘Come to my villa and have lunch’ said one
‘I’m afraid I am busy,’ said Melchior
‘We could go over some business contracts, what could be more important than that?’ protested the man
‘My great grandson Prince, and the other children and people of West Beach. Don’t you agree that children are important?’ Boomed Melchior, and he gestured the children along to the entrance.
Outside Amelia couldn’t believe how quiet the beach looked. There were still many police around.
‘Come let us walk. I will buy you a hot chocolate. Children are supposed to drink milk. You all look skinny. One of the restaurants here is mine too. It’s just I let other people manage it. If I was here there would have been food for all you children.’
Amelia watched Prince look at his grandfather with pride as they walked along. She suddenly heard a cry
‘Amelia!’ she looked up and saw Raindrop.
‘Raindrop,’ she said and ran up to her and they hugged
‘I thought you lived in the village now.’
‘I
did but I took a day off to find you. I was so worried when they told me Star Strummer had left you in the restaurant. The waiter told me, his boss told him. I came to see if you were alright.’
‘Raindrop I am so glad you are here. Some wonderful news has happened to me and I need to help you with my wonderful luck.’
‘Who is this lady?’ asked Melchior
‘This is my friend Raindrop,’ said Amelia
‘Is this a kind lady?’ Melchior asked Prince
‘She is really nice.’ Said Prince
‘Come and join us for a drink at my café, ‘said Melchior ‘I am Prince’s great-grandfather.
‘Thank you sir.’ Said Raindrop, and then to Amelia ‘is this luck you have found, with Prince?’
‘It’s half lucky, but I have a different luck, luck we can share. I think Prince’s grandfather is just lucky for Prince, but he is a nice man.’ They followed the others to the café and sat down. Melchior ordered them hot chocolate with cream on top. Raindrop ordered a camomile tea. Raindrop told Melchior about how they had left with Star Strummer and Amelia had joined in talking about how she thought she was going to be a star, and everybody laughed. Their hot chocolates arrived and the kids had never seen anything so delicious and they sat spooning the cream off the top. Melchior had a small expresso coffee that smelled strongly and Amelia identified that he smelt of this all the time. All of a sudden they were distracted by a cry. They looked over at the beach and saw Melon’s mother being pushed around by a policeman who was very angry with her.
‘No hawkers, off the beach now!’ he shouted
‘What is this!’ said Melchior
‘That’s Melons’ mum, they sell melon,’ said Amelia. ‘They are nice they give the kids free melon.’
Melchior jumped up and rushed over to the policeman.
‘This woman is a legitimate trader. I am Melchior Riviera the café owner. She is not doing any harm. If you bother her, you are bothering me!’
The policeman looked him up and down. The businessman from the hotel came rushing along and said,
‘Officer, please go about your business. This man owns much of West Beach. You must allow him.’
The officer stepped back
‘Why are you pushing the people around?’ asked Melchior. Amelia felt nervous in her stomach. She had never seen anyone challenge the police
‘The Mayor is here and he is showing a new investor a plot to build a hotel. They will not invest if there are vermin around. We need investment in our country. We need progress.’
‘You are not it.’ Said Melchior angrily. ‘Where is the Mayor?’
‘Up there to the right’ said the policeman
‘Thank you sir’ said Melons’ mum and mumbled ‘they think they can treat people any old way, but you see we have friends!’ and stomped off giving the policeman the evil eye. The policeman moved away, but Melchior continued to talk to the businessman. Amelia and Raindrop raised their eyes at each other. The boys ran over to sit down by Melchior.
‘So Amelia what is this luck?’ asked Raindrop
‘I have met Don Oro. You have to keep it a secret. After I got thrown out of the restaurant I walked to the castle, and Don Oro is living there. Nobody knows this, it is a secret and you have to promise me that you will not tell anyone.’
‘Don Oro!’ gasped raindrop. ‘I promise I will keep it a secret.
‘Anyway Don Oro is a midget. He is very handsome and kind, but he came to West beach once to take over his father’s property, and everyone laughed at him, so he never came back. Anyway, I told him I was all alone and he said if I had a guardian, he would give them the key to a house, and we could live there. Raindrop would you come with me? We could have our own house.’
‘Are you sure this is Don Oro?’
‘I am definite. Please come with me today. I have the money for the bus. I promised him we would come.’
‘Of course I will come with you. We will leave right away. I have my job, but I have to sleep on the floor and my boss is unkind, calling me bad names.’
‘Raindrop this is the start of our luck. We will be happy and we will help others too.’
‘Come!’ shouted Melchior to them and gesturing them to come. He looked so powerful being so tall and bronze with his ornate metal belt on his jeans on his legs that went on forever. They went over to him.
‘The Mayor thinks he can treat people like dirt. I will show him who wield the power. I have an office for shipping oil that towers over all the other buildings in the city. He would not like to mess with me.’
They followed him up the beach. The tourists were all sitting in their deckchairs as usual, and some town people and their families were dotted around having picnics. Could you only be on the beach if you had nice clothes? They walked across the road to a field where there was a crowd of men gathered with clip boards. There was a foreign looking lady in sunglasses and a white linen dress.
‘Which one is the Mayor?’ Melchior asked the businessman
‘The fat one,’ he answered. ‘Be calm Melchior. Things have changed since you were around. It is not unusual for even the top rim of society to end up in jail.’
Melchior walked forward. The children and Raindrop followed. He introduced himself to the Mayor as the owner of the oil shipping company and hotel owner, and the Mayor looked impressed and shook his hand. However, he then started to challenge him about the way the people were forced off the beach.
‘People?’ said the Mayor. ‘You can see there are plenty of people on the beach. What are you talking about?’
Melchior swallowed his anger. ‘To whom are you selling this plot?’
‘To this lady’s company. They are a US based hotel chain. It will be great for the area.’ The lady smiled at Melchior and said,
‘I maybe might be putting it in my portfolio. Of course the people have to change. They can’t all come here to beg. It’s for tourists.’
Melchior spat on the ground, and she stood back affronted.
‘You cannot buy this plot because it is not for sale. It is owned by Don Oro’s family.’
‘Don Oro is dead,’ said the Mayor
‘But his family is still alive.’ Said Melchior
‘Nobody has heard of them and my office has called this now government property.’ Said the Mayor through his teeth, and then to the lady ‘I don’t know what nonsense this is.’
Melchior was about to argue on, but Raindrop pulled him away.
‘If this is true then me and Amelia can help you. She has met Don Oro’
‘Raindrop! It’s supposed to be a secret!’ said Amelia
‘You met Don Oro? How come you didn’t tell me?’ said Peto.
The Mayor was talking to his bodyguards. There were about ten of them, big men wearing shades. He was pointing at Melchior
‘Come lets go back, we can sort all this out.’ said Raindrop.
‘Where is he I must see him?’ said Melchior to Amelia, pulling her along. Amelia was silent. They went back across the road onto the beach.
‘It is a secret,’ Amelia said, ‘But Raindrop and I are seeing him today. We will tell him you want to see him.’
‘His father gave me my first chance. I was just a fisherman and he helped me start up my business. I heard he had sons, but he never introduced me to them, he kept them up in the country. He left so much land and business around here. I tried to contact his son through the lawyers, but he never answered me. Please let me see him.’
‘He made me promise not to tell people about him. He is a midget and doesn’t like to be looked down on.’
‘Oh, but he is a good man?’
‘A very good man. He is giving me and Raindrop a house,’ said Amelia
‘But you can live with Prince. I have a big villa up in Royal Harbour.’
‘This is my home now. We will come to the hotel in the evening and tell you what he said.’ Said Amelia. ‘You look after Prince and Peto, they need family.’ Amelia and Raindrop linked a
rms and told the others goodbye as they walked back to the hotel to get the bus.
Chapter 16
Amelia walked with Raindrop down the rough road leading to the castle with butterflies in her stomach. She had been a bit nervous on the bus, and had looked hard at Raindrop. She had put all her trust into people before, and been let down. How did she know that Raindrop wasn’t going to let her down? She asked her if she was sure she wouldn’t leave her to go back to her boss or her husband. Raindrop told her to hush, and combed her hair and sang to her.
‘You have a lovely daughter,’ said an old woman to her on the bus.
‘I know,’ said Raindrop and winked at Amelia.
‘You have to be my mother now,’ said Amelia. ‘Melchior said I am from Saint Prince, and all the people there were drowned in a hurricane. The people of West beach say the sea is their mother, but how could it be when it drowned villagers?’
‘That was the work of the wind. Try not to worry. A good wind has taken us now. Look there is the castle.’
As they walked Raindrop sang a comic song about the sea being the mother and the things it brought you to eat crabs, prawns, fish. Amelia laughed when she sang about eating snails. She would never eat them, no matter how hungry she was. They got to the castle and Amelia led her to the back gate. Raindrop unlocked it and they went to the door and knocked. There was no answer. Amelia’s heart sank. What if he had gone away?
‘Don Oro, Don Oro, it is me Amelia!’ she shouted really loudly. She heard the door being unlocked and when it was opened they saw Don Oro jumping off a stool he had stood on to open it. He looked frightened when he saw Raindrop.
‘This is my new mother Raindrop,’ she said as he led them inside. He took Raindrop’s hand and kissed it
‘Charmed Madame, come through and sit.’ They sat down on the sofa. The puppy was on it playing with the cushion tassels. Don Oro bought them some water and disappeared again.
‘We ought to tell him about the Mayor, ‘said Raindrop. Amelia nodded, but she was so single minded about getting her house she had forgotten the morning’s events.
Don Oro came back carrying a key and a piece of paper and said, ‘this is the key for number 8 Coastal Walk. It is a little blue house my father owned. He owned the whole street. I will have to get my Lawyer to look at the rents there. I don’t like to come to West beach so I know little. But I know I don’t want to go to hell, so I can help a child. Do you promise you will look after her? I will have my lawyer come to check she is living there every month. I am a suspicious man. This is a formal tenancy agreement you can show if anyone troubles you, let me get my cheques. He went over to a table. Raindrop was glowing looking at the key and the paper and kept saying that she could not believe it over and over. Don Oro wrote a cheque and said,
‘This is the money for her food. It should last ten years until she is grown up, then you must find work to support yourselves. It is my father’s way.’ He gave the cheque to Raindrop who grabbed hold of him, squeezed him hard and kissed him. He blushed under his walnut skin
‘Madame please!’ he said and rushed out of the room. Raindrop put the cheque, paper and key into her bag.
‘Thank you, thank you so much Don Oro. You must come to West beach. We will cook you the finest fish. Thank you so much for what you have done for me. I will be a great person, a good person.’
‘You can go now, goodbye,’ shouted Don Oro from another room
‘But Don Oro, you must tell Raindrop about your life,’ she protested
‘I don’t like company and strangers much. It is time for you to leave,’ he said nervously.’
‘But Don Oro we have something important to tell you. The Mayor came and made everyone leave the beach. He is trying to sell your land to a stranger to build a hotel. Melchior stopped him. He owns the hotel and oil shipping he is our friend. Will you meet him?’
‘I have heard of Melchior. My father once said he wished he were his son instead of me, he rang me after my father died, but I always had a jealousy of him. I am my own worst enemy I suppose.’ Don Oro said appearing. ‘Thank you for telling me. I will tell my lawyer to come to West beach and check it out.’
Raindrop fell on her knees and began to kiss his feet and tell him thank you again.
‘Please Madame you really must go, now I insist, he said jumping back. He pushed Amelia to the door, stood on the stool and opened it for them and shouted, ‘goodbye, you must go now. Don’t tell anyone who gave you the house. Don’t come here again. I am leaving now to go the country to my brother. He is tall but he is blind and he needs me. I don’t know what my family did to deserve such bad fortune, I am a midget and my brother is blind.’
‘But you are the most handsome, and divine man I have ever met, said Raindrop
‘Madame please leave!’ he shouted and pushed them out of the door and banged it shut. Outside Amelia shouted thank you to him and promised to be good for him for about an hour, until Raindrop dragged her away towards the bus. They kept hugging and smiling at each other.
When they got back to West Beach they took the road that led to Coastal Walk. Most of the houses were boarded up, it was such a waste. They got to number eight. It was a gorgeous little blue cottage. Raindrop’s hand shook as she put the key in the lock and opened the door. Amelia ran in to immediately explore the house that was clean but a bit dusty. There was a little flight of stairs, and upstairs were three rooms. She would share her room with Pinky and Pearl, and Peto could have a room, and so could Raindrop. Raindrop was busy turning on taps and lights to see if they worked. Amelia came back downstairs and entered into the living room. The blue sofas must have been fifty years old, but they still looked nice. There was a picture of a man on the wall. Raindrop said it must be Don Oro’s father. ‘Choose a room,’ said Raindrop. Amelia ran upstairs and chose a room with a window that looked out on the beach. She lay down on a bed, and her brain felt ecstatic. Someone had given her a life. She had wanted to rush out to tell the others to come, but she had got hypnotised by the things in the room, a sheepskin rug, a little wooden carving of a boat, an ancient teddy bear, an Indian striped blanket, a wooden hoop for doing the hula. She felt like she was back in her childhood that had been robbed from her. She felt her eyelids droop and she fell asleep, not wanting to live anywhere else but here.
Chapter 17
Amelia bought her friends Peto, Jasper, Pinky and Pearl to live in her house. She asked Don Oro’s lawyer if it was alright when he came that month. The children were all polite to him, and his answer was a shouted,
‘They can’t live on the road, can they?’ Amelia smiled, at least he was on their side.
One day he took them to visit Don Oro’s new orphanage. It had been filled with beds and toys. Amelia took him to the bus station, and showed him the building where she had had to stay with Peto. He couldn’t even go in, it smelt so bad. He vowed to bring all those children to the orphanage. They insisted he met Melchior who was about to leave for Royal harbour with Prince and his mother who had been found. She looked like she had been ill, her eyes were shadowy and sad, but they were very happy to be with Prince now. Melchior and the lawyer spoke for a long time. Melchior said that everything needed to change. He was going to take money from his businesses and build some chalets for the poor people, but he said that it was the government that should be doing that. All over South America children were in danger sleeping on the street, starving and forced to beg. The government urgently needed to build more orphanages and houses as a priority; they could borrow the money from China or Japan, or stop spending it on yachts and expensive houses. Every child was important; no more lives should be ruined. If they sheltered the young, even in emergency shelters, there was a better chance that they would grow up to be workers, not get pushed into crime. The lawyer agreed, and said he would talk to Don Oro to see if he would help. Melchior said he wanted to meet Don Oro, but the lawyer said he had gone back to the country, and was a private man, a man t
hat only gave places one chance, and that was it. He had been ridiculed and abused in West Beach so had vowed never to return, and he never broke his vow.
Next time the lawyer came back he said that Don Oro had signed the beach land over to Melchior to build more houses for the poor. Melchior told the newspapers, and there was an article all about it. He let people know that the man who had given him the land was Don Oro’s son, and they should be very grateful to him. He criticised the Mayor. The people turned against the Mayor and when it came to election time the people voted him out and the new Mayor was a friend of Melchior’s who tried to help the poor more.
Amelia and her friends got fat eating Raindrop’s chicken and beans, but they did not forget the poor, and every day they checked the beach for children giving them fruit and rolls and telling them about the orphanage. Peto would get them all playing football, and the café Melchior owned would make them a big pot of fish soup served with bread for afterwards. Amelia tried to help their sadness by singing them songs and telling them stories. After she had done this, she would go and swim for a shell to remind her of each person’s story. Pinky and Pearl protested about the number of shells in the room, but she reminded them that this was how they had eaten when they were hungry, she‘d only survived because like the saying, she sold seashells by the sea shore.
THE END
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